In order to surmise the extent of a problem, a little homework is typically required. In the case of material resources, for example, it is common knowledge that material consumption and disposal can have far-reaching environmental, social, and economic consequences. But it is difficult to comprehend the full repercussions of material use, given the complexity and vast spatiotemporal scales of global material flows.
Read more of Blaine Brownell’s article about new data-visualization tools that clarify the life cycle of materials in the August 2011 issue of Architect.
